Touching the Earth

Touching
the Earth

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Now in its fourth year, Touching the Earth offers young adults (ages 18-25) an opportunity to pause, to engage in a sustained period of contemplation in a community of peers and mentors, and to reflect on values and callings. A diverse and seasoned faculty guides the exploration of the Buddhist concept of interbeing through ecology, ecopsychology, and social justice.

Applications Close On May 21

This program was so incredible. It gave me the space to be expansive and for all parts of my being to be accepted. It’s hard for me to put into words but I think this is the best thing I’ve ever done for myself.

Nithya

This program reminded me of what's important to sustain my soul: offering up my gifts and cultivating the stillness I need to do so.

Arthur

I am so deeply grateful for this life-changing experience. I’ve never felt so safe in a community to speak truthfully and from my heart. I will forever cherish all the wisdom and love I have felt from everyone. I can breathe now!

Rylie

I feel more empowered to follow my heart's path because this experience has shown me that I am not alone, and it is possible to feel authentic and joyful in a society that is wrestling with consumerism, post-colonialism, and shifting means for connection.

Spencer

This program has completely re-sparked hope, joy, interest, and love for the world. I want to bring this with me and spread it if I can. I want to live in a harmonious way with the Earth and my spiritual path.

Casey

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Touching the Earth is possible only because of donors like you. Every gift makes a difference, no matter the size, and will have a life-changing impact on those unable to participate without your help.

Several threads of practice run through this three-week program, including the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Work That Reconnects, the Way of Council, and the Eco-Soulcentric Developmental Wheel. As we settle into routines of investigation, our sense of time expands, and we use our moral imaginations to live beside ancestors and future beings.

Daily rhythms include morning silence, mindfulness practice, physical exercise (work projects, hiking, swimming, yoga), solitude and guided experiences in nature, creative expression, reading and dialogue, group singing, and sharing nourishing meals. Sunday is a day of silence for deepening personal practice and tending to self-care.

Occasional visits from local farmers, artists, healers, and wildlife biologists allow us to learn about composing an original life, rooting in place, and engaging in meaningful work during this time of transition toward a life-sustaining society.

Program Information

Just prior to his awakening, according to tradition, Gautama Buddha called on the earth to be his witness. This moment appears in much Buddhist art, represented by the Buddha sitting cross-legged with his hand touching the earth. Today, this image also represents a practice of living according to the Buddhist and ecological insight of interdependence, acknowledging the living systems in which we are embedded and on which our very lives depend.

The Edelglass Homestead has been evolving in a forest clearing in the foothills of the Green Mountains since 2010. Beautiful hiking trails weave through the mostly hardwood forest and connect the house to a small college campus, home to the world-class concerts of the Marlboro Music Festival. Other trails lead to the tiny village of Marlboro, to extensive beaver ponds, and to the shores of pristine South Pond.

Permaculture principles have guided the design and development of vegetable gardens, pollinator meadows, a small fruit orchard, and a young “edible forest” of native shrubs and trees.

The rural town of Marlboro is located in the Upper Connecticut River Valley, a land inhabited for countless generations by Abenaki people, many of whom continue to live in this bioregion. Marlboro is filled with artists, scholars, and homesteaders drawn to the area by the former Marlboro College and the Marlboro Music Festival. The 40 square miles are mostly forested, and the human population has never topped 1,300. Other inhabitants include white-tailed deer, moose, black bears, red and grey foxes, coyotes, fishers, mink, beavers, porcupines, bald eagles, common loons, barred owls, chickadees, and beautiful individuals belonging to hundreds of other animal species.

Late summer in Vermont is a golden season.

We sleep in tents, gather for meals on a screen porch, and sit around a campfire to sing and share thoughts.

Mindfulness practice takes place in a meditation room as well as outside on the land.

Making conscious choices about what we eat, cooking crews prepare meals in the kitchen, incorporating vegetables harvested fresh from the garden.

For the entire three weeks, we take a break from using screens and devices, supporting our intention to be fully awake to our present moment experience.

This experiential program does not offer academic credit.

Students enrolled in college have the option of incorporating research for coursework. The program faculty can serve as advisors for this process.

Upon completion, letters of recommendation may be requested for college applications, internships, and paid positions. With just fourteen participants engaged in this intensive program, faculty come to know students well and, if desired, can offer mentoring for education and career choices.

Application Information

Eligibility

Touching the Earth is open to 18-25 year olds.

We welcome applications from young adults who enjoy living in community close to nature and who are passionate about contributing to the Great Turning – the transition to a world that is healthy and just, ecologically and socially. Experience with meditation, compassionate listening, gardening, and camping is beneficial but not essential. We are aiming to form a diverse learning community with a range of identities and life experiences. Most of all, we are looking for people who are curious about the world and ready to connect with other living beings.

Dates

The in-person dates for Touching the Earth are July 26 – August 17, 2024.

There are no remote or part-time options available.

Location

Touching the Earth takes place at the Edelglass Homestead in Marlboro, VT, on the southern foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains.

The homestead has hosted permaculture workshops, academic conferences and talks, and Buddhist meditation retreats, as well as workshops on practical skills. Over the years, hundreds of volunteers have lived with the Edelglass family, helping them tend the land.

Program Fee and Scholarships

Program Fee: $2,600

Your program fee will go toward the cost of meals and lodging, a living wage for our staff, and program expenses like insurance and materials. The program fee does not cover travel to and from the Edelglass Homestead.

Scholarships

In an effort to make this program accessible to applicants regardless of their financial circumstances, a scholarship fund has been established specifically for Touching the Earth. You will find an application for need-based financial assistance at the bottom of the program application.

Application Process and Timeline

Submit Your Application Today!

Timeline

Applications Close: May 21

Interviews Begin: March 25

Accepted Applicants Notified: April 15

Registration & Initial Payment: May 1

Final Payment Due: June 15

Program Dates: July 26 – August 17

COVID Safety

This program will follow the guidelines issued by the CDC and the State of Vermont for preventing COVID-19 transmission. Since these guidelines are continually updated, students and faculty will be given explicit instructions by July 1 (if necessary).

Questions

For more information about this program, please contact Kirstin Edelglass, Program Director, at touchingearth@buddhistinquiry.org.

Faculty

Kirstin Edelglass

Program Director and Core Faculty

Meditation Teacher

Core Faculty

Core Faculty

Core Faculty and Meditation Teacher

Vanessa López

Arts and Social Justice Teacher

Anna Smith

Assistant Faculty

William Edelglass

Buddhist Philosophy Teacher

Olivia Pintair

Assistant Faculty

Ruby Carmel

Assistant Faculty

Zev York

Assistant Faculty

This program is cosponsored by the Marlboro Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting educational spaces, events and programs that nurture resilient creative communities in Marlboro, VT and the surrounding bioregion.

Deepening Practice,
Building Community.

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Located in Central Massachusetts

Touching the Earth